


A Ship of Ill Repute

by katajainen



Series: February Ficlet Challenge 2018 [17]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Space Pirates, Astromechanic Hermione, Friendship, Gen, In some Star Wars-esque galaxy far far away, No beta -provided as is, questionable career choices, space with magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-20
Updated: 2018-02-20
Packaged: 2019-03-21 17:59:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13746303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katajainen/pseuds/katajainen
Summary: Harry wants to get off-planet, and his godfather has a ship to crew. Hermione thinks it's a terrible idea.





	A Ship of Ill Repute

**Author's Note:**

> Day 19 of the February Ficlet Challenge, prompt: Pirate AU.

#####  _Knock-a-turn spaceport, the Karg's Head bar._

'Harry!' Hermione hissed and leaned closer over the sticky surface of the table. 'You can't be seriously considering that? Because that ship–' she nodded outside– 'no matter what he calls it now, it’s the Dread Dog. The _pirate ship_.'

'Sirius is my godfather,' Harry argued, as if that explained everything. ‘And it's just this short tour to Algirae 20, you don’t need to make it sound like something sordid.'

Hermione resisted the urge to bang her forehead against the table, because who knew what had died on it. 'That's what he says,’ she countered. ‘Don't you realize he's only taking you on because he doesn't have the credit to pay anyone with actual experience?'

'I can fly,' Harry said defensively.

'Just about anything, I know. But what about ship maintenance? That piece of garbage out there looks like it's held together with charmwork, not nuts and bolts. And I doubt you know the first thing about shielding in zero gravity – or offensive magic. It's not going to be some lazy supply run, whatever he told you. Not with that ship.'

'Ron's good with the offensive stuff – and the ship has its own shield generator.'

'Ron's coming with you? Of course.' Hermione stood up abruptly. 'Fine. Get yourselves killed, if you are that desperate to get off-planet. But don't say I didn't warn you.'

#####  _Two days later at the outskirts of the Knock-a-turn spaceport._

Hermione floated the small cargo box carefully to a stop and settled it at her feet. Reaching up on tiptoes, she tapped at the bottom of Dread Dog's closed gangway ramp with her wand, sending a charm to chime through the ship's comm system.

The ramp lowered only moments later, and Harry came down. 'Sirius said to let you in, but why–' he noticed the box at her feet. 'You're coming along?'

Hermione walked quickly up the ramp, floating her belongings after her. 'Obviously. You need someone to keep this flying piece of junk– well, flying, for one thing. Can I store this somewhere for a while?’ A flick of her wand lifted her box to Harry’s line of sight. ‘I heard the hyperdrive is temperamental, and I'd like to get that fixed before we go so it won’t splinch us across ten different systems.'

Harry blinked, then gestured vaguely down the corridor to their right. 'Just leave that here.' He bit his lip. 'But 'mione? What about the, you know, the pirate thing? I thought you'd have nothing to do with it.'

Hermione turned and gave him a long look. 'Harry James Potter – do you really think I wouldn't want you to be an alive pirate rather than a dead one? No, I didn’t think so. Now, that hyperdrive?'

Harry grinned back at her. 'This way. And welcome abroad.'

 


End file.
